the triplets had been recording small elements for their vlog the entire day, whether it was a funny moment or simply a peaceful one. the day spent together had the entire group happier than ever and the small memories building in their heads definitely would be treasured for as long as they possibly could be.
"hope you better stop that," chris sighed as yet another bundle of droplets hit his face.
hope giggled to herself at the frustrated look on her friend's face and prepared some more water in her hand. she was about to splash it in chris' direction but stopped herself as he practically jumped up from his seat on the bench and charged towards her. the water bottle in her hand escaped her grip and suddenly, she was darting as far away as possible after a frightened yell that may have attracted a few stares. chris chased after her, screaming at her about how it would be the end of her or something like that. hope's laughter boomed across the place as she registered the youngest triplet's words.
matt and nick watched as their bodies became harder to distinguish with fond smiles on their faces. they turned to each other with a shake of their heads at the situation but the moment was cut short as they saw chris and hope running back towards them. the strange thing was the way they were running side by side rather than one after the other. nick gave matt an alarmed looked at the realisation before the pair were off the bench and running away too. hope and chris followed them, after picking up the abandoned water bottle filled with ice cold water and shoving it in the sky so that the duo in front could see it easily.
they caught up to the older two thirds of the triplets quick and began splashing the water at them, earning threatening yells and perhaps a little laughter. chris thought it was the greatest idea to just throw the bottle of water at his brothers which had him being chased for five minutes. with exhaustion and endless panting, the entire group made their way to the bench they had been sat at moments prior. they sat on opposing ends, matt and hope beside each other and nick and chris next to one another.
"my hair is fucking soaked," matt grumbled as he pushed his fingers through his indeed extremely wet hair.
"okay i don't want to hear you complaining. look at my fucking t-shirt," nick grimaced as he pointed at his t-shirt that would have been a dozen shades darker if it wasn't jet black.
"it'll dry, stop being so dramatic," chris laughed and let it grow louder as his brothers glared at him.
hope wasted no time in joining in, "the sun's shining brightly. you'll be as good as new in no time."
this resulted in nick kicking her under the bench and a yelp that had matt giving her an unsympathetic smile. she huffed loudly before breaking out into minimal laughter that was reciprocated almost immediately.
nick pulled out the vlog camera and hit record, "we were all having a fun little time before chris and hope decided to drown us!"
he panned the camera rather aggressively towards said people, who merely gave a sheepish smiled and turned to face each other with a matching content grin.
"it was totally random too! one second they were fighting each other and then the next, they were coming full speed at us," matt explained to the camera with a shake of his head.
"in my defence, they were laughing at me before, when hope was attacking me," chris pointed out.
nick zoomed the camera in on hope who gave an exaggerated smile and thumbs up. matt hadn't realised when nick brought the camera back so it was facing them again. his somewhat intense gaze that was fixed on hope was caught on camera and nick had to call his name twice before he zoned back in.
"sorry," he mumbled as he moved his eyes away from the girl, who he hoped had not caught him staring.
hope had caught him. she had seen the stare he held with so much passion that it became almost too much. key word being almost. despite the suddenness and the intensity, she loved it. she loved the pure look of amazement he held in his eyes when he glanced at her and how she could captivate him to the point he had to be snapped out of it. in a strange way, it comforted her. it comforted her knowing he may feel the same because to be quite frank, she was completely and utterly ensnared by him and everything he did. his words, his actions, him; it all made her feel the emotions she was desperate to experience again. it was a little scary how he could make her feel so strongly but at the same time, she adored it.
"we should probably head home," nick said after half an hour of them speaking.
"you coming to ours?" chris asked as he turned to face hope with a miniature smile.
"i'll come for a while," she nodded her head and there wasn't any need for confirmation that it was alright to do so.
nick and chris walked ahead, talking to the camera about something or the other as matt and hope followed, quite far behind.
"you can dry my hair with a hairdryer," matt turned to hope who pulled a face at his words.
"you wish matthew," she retorted and he chuckled.
"that was actually really mean of you, i could have drowned," matt clutched his hand over his heart dramatically while hope rolled her eyes.
"we're even now," hope laughed after a while.
"hope," matt called out from the kitchen, the blue bowl of water firmly grasped in his hand as he attempted to muffle his laughter with his hand.
he heard his girlfriend's yell from upstairs and prepared for her arrival once he began to hear her footsteps trotting down the stairs. he hid behind the door with his phone set up so it could capture hope's reaction. he gave the camera a little sly smirk and a thumbs up as hope's silhouette appeared in the corner of the screen.
hope opened the door a little further, glancing around in confusion as she was positive she had heard matt's voice from the kitchen. she walked into the kitchen some more and before she could speak up, a bunch of water was poured over her head. she let out a yell due to the coldness and the pure shock she felt. she couldn't do anything but laugh in disbelief as she turned to face matt who was laughing a little too loudly.
"what the fuck matt!" she groaned as she let her hands squeeze the ends of her hair, numerous water droplets falling onto the floor in the process.
matt was grinning like an absolute fool and he basically forgot about the phone recording their every move. he moved back slightly, a little scared of how his girlfriend would react.
"surprise!" he grinned at the girl who inhaled deeply.
"i literally could have drowned," she sighed loudly and he gave her a look.
"you definitely could not have drowned, it was only a bit of water," he giggled at the glare she was giving him.
it was only funny because he could tell she didn't mean it. the glare wasn't anywhere close to the usual way it was whenever she was mad and the corners of her mouth were turned up a little. it looked as though she was fighting away her smile and pretending to be annoyed which had matt feeling giddy on the inside for no reason at all.
"in what world was this necessary?" she huffed out and plucked the bowl from matt's hand, slamming it onto the counter top.
"it was funny," matt retorted with a small shrug of his shoulders.
"i'm so going to get you back for this," she smiled at him, shaking her head at the still apparent shock of the situation.
"i'll be alert," matt laughed again and wrapped his arms around hope, not even remotely bothered by the water now transferring onto him.
"you're really pretty, you know that?" he whispered and he was so close that hope could more or less hear his heartbeat.
"are you saying this to get on my good side?" hope questioned as matt tucked strands of her hair behind her ear.
"no, i mean it," he smiled down at the girl and she returned it all too well.
matt connected their lips and she wasted no time at all in leaning in eagerly. she couldn't even be mad at the patch of water on her back or the curls beginning to form in her hair as their lips moved together. matt let his hand cup her cheek and she tilted her head ever so lightly so that her face pressed into his hand. they pulled apart and in that moment, matt's eyes travelled to the phone still recording the pair.
he let out a gasp at the realisation and hope shifted her body to face whatever he was looking at.
"you were recording!" she shouted as matt twisted out of her hold and made his way towards his phone.
he gave her a sheepish smile as he picked up his phone, "yeah and i forgot so that whole thing is now on video."
"you're something else," she grinned at him and he mirrored it perfectly.
"don't ever delete that video," she instructed after they finished watching it and the smile on her face as she watched it was enough to make him want to make a dozen copies of the video so he wouldn't ever lose it.
matt never deleted the video.
"we're even," he confirmed with a fond expression overtaking his face that had hope wanting to repeat her words until she no longer could, if only to see that smile again and again.
some more conversation mixed with laughter had them standing outside of the house before they knew it. nick and chris had zoomed ahead and hadn't even bothered waiting for them, knowing they'd make their own way home. matt and hope their way inside, shrugged their shoes off and went into the living room.
when they made their way inside, they noted that the other half of their group were nowhere to be seen. with the assumption that they had most likely retreated to their rooms, matt and hope too made their way upstairs and to matt's room. hope flicked the light on and they both sat down on matt's bed.
hope couldn't stop thinking of the video. the lingering question of whether he still had it was going to make her insane. she still vividly remembered the first time she watched the video, still in the kitchen with matt after he had pressed the stop recording button. she watched as matt smiled his beautiful smile at the camera and the look of pure bliss on his face as she entered the kitchen. oh how she missed their simple moments.
matt was in a similar boat; he had to resist the strong urge to excuse himself quickly just so he could watch the video. it was still in the album that he rarely ever looked at anymore. it used to bring back memories he wanted to forget but now he'd watch the videos or stare at the pictures for longer than he'd like to admit because it made him feel like things were they used to be. he desired for everything to return to normal but he was unsure as to how he could make it normal. he was the one who contorted the normality after all.
matt wasn't really aware of the look in his eyes as he glanced at hope who was scrolling through her phone. her thigh pressed against his felt like it was releasing fire and burning matt entirely. matt watched as her thumbs swiped over the screen and a smile painted its way onto her face. she looked so at ease and beautiful and he wanted to get utterly lost in her beauty.
hope felt his eyes on her and for a while, she let him just look. she didn't look up or say anything as she felt his eyes almost burning holes into her side as he watched. she would be lying if she said she didn't relish in the strong gaze he dedicated solely to her and she would be a fool if she didn't enjoy it for as long as she possibly could. she let him stare until she couldn't. she could no longer ignore the far too fast beating of her heart or the minimal goosebumps that enveloped her against her will. her eyes shifted from the phone in her hand to the boy beside her and for a moment, it felt as though time had stopped.
there it was again, that eye contact that made them feel as if they were drowning but in a weirdly peaceful way. it made their hearts go at alarming rates yet their exterior was still as they glanced at the individual in front of them. the fierce water met the steady land once again and this time, the waves couldn't bare the distance any longer. the tide travelled over the edge and onto the land. they both leaned closer until they were merely centimetres apart and the water gave in. matt's lips pressed into hope's gentle ones before he could register what he was doing. the look in her eyes had made him cave and in all honesty, there wasn't a single ounce of him that felt regretful.
hope wasn't sure what part of her decided to kiss back after the initial shock had subsided. she wasn't sure which part of her settled on the kiss being a good idea but when matt had been sneaking glances at her the entire day, she couldn't resist. she couldn't help the way her body leaned in to deepen the kiss or the tingling sensation she felt as matt cupped her cheek or even the butterflies that swarmed her stomach the second the distance began to decrease until it was no longer present.
both of them felt like they were on top of the world. they were one another's worlds and connecting with the other made them feel like nothing else mattered. nothing mattered beside the sparks of fire that shot through them as their lips moved against one another. their bodies seemed to be crumbling under the force yet they couldn't find it in themselves to stop. they let the pieces crumble away and watched as they lost themselves in the best way possible. it was truly the best thing they had experienced in a while and the only thought on their mind whilst they kissed was each other. nothing else mattered and that was okay.
who knows what could have come of the kiss? perhaps there could have been talking and a reunion of the souls but life works in mysterious ways and matt and hope were indeed a mystery. the sound of a knock on matt's bedroom door had the duo jolting apart faster than they had come together. they were slightly breathless as they watched the handle twist. their minds were racing with more thoughts than they could count as chris stepped into the room with a little smile. the youngest triplet failed to notice the flushed cheeks or the tense atmosphere that was circling the room at the now almost deafening silence.
"nick's ordering food, do you guys want anything?" chris questioned as he leaned against the doorframe, completely clueless.
"i was actually just about to head home but thank you," hope managed to get out without seeming uneasy.
"i'm not really hungry," matt mumbled; suddenly he had lost his appetite entirely.
"you sure?" chris asked them again and when he received a nod of the head from them both, he made his way out of the room and back downstairs to where he was just minutes before.
"sorry- i literally don't know why i did that," matt nearly whispered, avoiding eye contact at all costs.
"no it's okay, neither of us were thinking straight," hope reassured but the thought of what would happen next wouldn't leave her mind.
she stood up from the bed, picked her phone up and made her way to the bedroom door. she turned around to look at matt who appeared just as dumfounded as she did, "i'll see you soon, bye matt."
"yeah, see you," he responded but he didn't think she heard him as he said it in the quietest tone and because she was out of the door before the words even left his mouth.